Construction to resume on national 9/11 museum, Bloomberg and Cuomo say

By Chris Boyette and Steve Kastenbaum, CNN

Updated 1420 GMT (2220 HKT) September 11, 2012

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Ground Zero now – The National September 11 Memorial and Museum, top, stands next to one of the reflecting pools on September 11, 2013, the 12th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

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Ground zero now – Pedestrians walk by One World Trade Center on the eve of the 11th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on September 10, 2012, in New York City.

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Ground zero now – A flag sits in a name on the 9/11 Memorial on September 11, 2012, before ceremonies marking the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks begin.

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Ground zero now – The skyline of Lower Manhattan now contains One World Trade Center, which is scheduled to be completed in 2013.

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Ground zero now – New York's "Tribute in Light" for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks shines into the sky over Manhattan on September 10, 2012.

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Ground zero now – One World Trade Center is viewed from the 72nd floor of Four World Trade Center on Friday, September 7, 2012.

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Ground zero now – A view of One World Trade Center from the 72nd floor of Four World Trade Center on Friday.

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Ground zero now – Construction workers continue to work on one of the four office towers being built on the site on Friday.

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Ground zero now – The progress of the construction on One World Trade Center can be seen in this photo, as well as one of the pools of the memorial site below.

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Ground zero now – Construction workers work on the 72nd floor at Four World Trade Center on Friday.

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Ground zero now – Visitors view the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Friday. The memorial was completed in time for the 10th anniversary in 2011.

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Ground zero now – Only two of the four planned office towers for the site have had finishing beams placed on their top floors.

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Ground zero now – New York City is seen through a window of Four World Trade Center on Friday.

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Ground zero now – The reflecting pool at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum is viewed on Friday.

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Ground zero now – Visitors walk through the grounds of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Friday.

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Story highlights

The museum and memorial are at the World Trade Center site

The memorial opened last year, but a budget dispute halted work on the museum

New York City's mayor and the state's governor say the dispute has been resolved

Mayor Bloomberg says work will resume soon "and will not stop until the museum is completed"

The budgetary dispute that has delayed the opening of the National September 11 Memorial Museum has been resolved, according to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The museum was scheduled to open on the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, but disagreements over funding, financing and oversight of the museum between the 9/11 Memorial and Museum Foundation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have halted construction. The foundation controls the memorial and museum; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns the World Trade Center site.

Late Monday, all parties entered into a "memorandum of understanding," an agreement that allows them to restart construction on the stalled museum project.

"My goal during this period has been to get construction on the museum restarted," said Bloomberg, who is chairman of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum Foundation. "This agreement ensures that it will be restarted very soon and will not stop until the museum is completed."

The point of contention, $300 million that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it was owed by the 9/11 Memorial and Museum Foundation for additional design and construction costs, is being dropped in exchange for financial oversight of the museum and memorial, according to the memorandum.

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The 9/11 Memorial and Museum Foundation agreed to oversight from a committee composed of eight members: two appointed by the governor of New Jersey, two appointed by the governor of New York and four by the memorial board.

The foundation has agreed to have no less than six months of operating funds on hand at all times once the museum opens, though it's not clear if the foundation can meet this requirement because it is hard to say exactly how much money the museum will bring in, and the memorandum does not outline specific ramifications if the foundation is unable to meet these financial obligations.

The memorandum outlines a review of the project with the goal of determining the earliest possible opening date once construction resumes, though no date is set for the museum to open. All parties, according to the memorandum, will work toward opening individual sections of the museum as construction progress allows, which may mean a phased opening. This will allow the foundation to start collecting a $20 admission fee from visitors.

Constructed underground in the former World Trade Center's "archaeological heart," the museum will feature 110,000 square feet of exhibition space, according to the website for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum foundation.

It will house a vast array of 9/11 artifacts, including "photographs, videotapes, voice messages, recovered property, clothing and other personal effects, workplace memorabilia, (and) incident-specific documents," among other items, according to the site.

Located at the site of the former World Trade Center, the National September 11 Memorial has two huge, square fountains that mark the footprints of the World Trade Center towers that flow into granite reflecting pools at the center of the eight-acre, tree-lined plaza. Bronze plates surround the fountains and bear the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 attacks, as well as the six who were killed when a terrorist truck bomb exploded in the parking garage beneath the towers in 1993.

Sarah Lippman, a spokeswoman for the facility said the memorial, which opened September 12, 2011, has had 4.5 million visitors in its first year.

"Over the last few years, we have made extraordinary progress at ground zero and today's agreement is yet another milestone in our work to finally complete the site as a place where people from around the world can come to work, visit and remember," said Cuomo, who along with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie oversees the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "I commend Gov, Christie, Mayor Bloomberg, and the leadership of the Port Authority and the September 11 Memorial & Museum for their work on today's agreement."